Check out repo ‘rescues’

Brokers are being urged to protect borrowers against firms targeting homeowners threatened with repossession.

A swathe of companies, such as Repossession Angels, are offering to buy property at 20-25 per cent below market rate to avoid repossession and rent it back at market rate.

With repossessions rocketing by 65 per cent last year, some experts believe these schemes are suitable for those in need of a short-term fix.

But others fear that companies’ aggressive advertising could lure borrowers who are still able to negotiate with their lender or who are so indebted that they will see most of their sale money given to their lender and then default on their rent payments.

There are concerns that people will lose equity as the initial sale is well below market value. Many firms will negotiate a buyback after two years.

General insurance network Ceta has set up a similar operation and is offering a £400 sweetener for broker referrals.

John Charcol senior technical director Ray Boulger says: “The suitability depends on how close people are to repossession. It is important to explore how much people can get for the house on the market. What happens if the company goes bust?”

Recommended

Lloyds TSB is to close its Indian call centre and return work to the UK which the Lloyds TSB Group Union says is partly due to 400,000 Lloyds customers signing a petition saying they are opposed to offshore call centres.

I trust that your mortgage broking readers were not unduly flattered by the comments of Accord Mortgages managing director Linda Will that brokers are better suited to helping their clients than lenders when they are faced with repossession (Money Marketing, February 22). One can well understand why lenders are keen to put the broker back […]

Bright Grey is entering the individual corporate protection market this year and has appointed Jerry Bayman as corporate protection sales manager to lead the drive.Bayman was training consultant at Bright Grey’s sister company Scottish Life and in his new role he will be responsible for targeting advisers who deal with business owners, keypeople and high-net-worth […]

Prestbury has reported its first operating profit and says it is on the lookout for further acquisitions.The firm made a profit of £441,000 in the 12 months to October 31, 2006 compared with a £505,328 loss in 2005. Turnover increased by 24 per cent from £8.2m to £10.2m.Chief executive Lee Birkett puts the results down […]

Newsletter

Latest from Money Marketing

A group of 500 people have launched legal action against Ingenious Media saying they were misled about film investments that were later deemed to be tax avoidance by the government. According to Bloomberg, which cites court documents, employees from companies including Goldman Sachs, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC are part of the action. British composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber is […]

Embark Services returned to profit in 2017 as it reported an increase in self-invested personal pension clients. Embark Services is a subsidiary of Embark Group that trades under the Hornbuckle and Embark brands. The business reported pre-tax profit for the year ending 31 December 2017 of £136,000 compared with a loss in 2016 of £2.4m. […]

Architas UK has seen inflows drop by just over 70 per cent in the first half of the year. The Axa-owned asset manager reported £152m net inflows for the first six months of 2018, compared with £546m in the first half of 2017. Globally, Architas’s net inflows dropped to €797m (£710.6m) in the first half […]

14th August 20182:45 pm

Comments

Leave a comment

Why register with Money Marketing ?

Providing trusted insight for professional advisers. Since 1985 Money Marketing has helped promote and analyse the financial adviser community in the UK and continues to be the trusted industry brand for independent insight and advice.